# On "I'm Christian, unless you're gay" and Christian "tolerance" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 4, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867 "2012-04-04T23:52:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/41 "2012-04-05T18:53:07Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Yes, I think you get it. Why people are having a hard time understanding this is beyond me. > > “What you do is a horrible sin, but I’ll tolerate you because God says I have to. How awesome am I?” Not all that awesome, actually. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’m kind of surprised at the attitude to the OP. It’s not surprising to me at all. It’s a common attitude here that we are supposed to bend over backwards to pretend that Christianity is nice and that the bigots are some tiny minority, instead of the norm. It’s OK to condemn a small & unpopular religion like Scientology, but _never_ Christianity - it’s supposed to be looked upon as a _good_ thing. If the OP had gone on with a lot of excuses about how the people he’s complaining about are “just a tiny minority” and how they “don’t represent Christianity” then it would have been much better received. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/42 "2012-04-05T19:16:26Z")
This is so ridiculous, honestly. There are PLENTY of things that I “tolerate” that I don’t think are particularly good, but I don’t think they are illegal. I tolerate people who swear a lot. I tolerate people with tattoos and piercings all over their bodies. I tolerate people who espouse bigoted beliefs. I tolerate my grandpa when he says racist crap. I even tolerate vegetarians and vegans. These are qualities and actions that aren’t right for me and that I don’t agree with, but I tolerate people who embody them and I treat them kindly, with respect, etc. There is NOTHING wrong with tolerating people who do things that you don’t agree with. If you think homosexuality is wrong, and that practicing sodomy or whatever is a sin, then that’s your belief. If you are a good person, you are going to tolerate gays, be polite to them, and love them as you are instructed as a Christian to love them. Just because we’re all hunky-dory with homosexuality doesn’t mean everyone has to be. There are lots of different beliefs in this world, and it’s our behaviors and actions towards others that define us. ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/43 "2012-04-05T19:23:58Z")
Right. Although, in a sense, the people who preach the dagger of “tolerance” towards gays/wife-beaters/motorcycle gangs/other things that Christian perversity deems morally equivalent are indeeed the minority. In most of the world, Christians still just kill you or put you in jail for being gay and don’t do the “tolerance” dog-and-pony show. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/44 "2012-04-05T19:25:54Z")
> [@](#): > > I tolerate people who swear a lot. I tolerate people with tattoos and piercings all over their bodies. I tolerate people who espouse bigoted beliefs. I tolerate my grandpa when he says racist crap. I even tolerate vegetarians and vegans. These are qualities and actions that aren’t right for me and that I don’t agree with, but I tolerate people who embody them and I treat them kindly, with respect, etc. What the fuck are you “tolerating” about vegetarians? Other than the meat-is-murder brigade, they make absolutely no difference in your life. _Tolerance_ implies that you are giving up something, as in “I am tolerant of Muslims because I don’t go fucking ape when the muezzin at the local mosque wakes me up at 5 am.” Same’s true of gay people in the lives of Christians: they’re not tolerating them in any real sense, because it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference whether there are gays around. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/45 "2012-04-05T19:50:45Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > Christ, what a self-congratulatory, smarmy little prick. That’s no way to speak about **Condescending Robot**. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/46 "2012-04-05T19:56:41Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Yes, I think you get it. Why people are having a hard time understanding this is beyond me. It’s not that the concept is beyond anyone here. It’s that the OP has chosen a piss-poor example of it. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/47 "2012-04-05T20:49:32Z")
People want to criticize the essay/video should at least read it or watch it first. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/48 "2012-04-05T20:59:45Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > That’s no way to speak about **Condescending Robot**. :mad: No, **Condescending Robot** is a poster of outstanding moral character and clear insight. The writer of “I’m Christian unless you’re gay” is the self-congratulatory, smarmy little prick. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/49 "2012-04-05T21:49:30Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > No, **Condescending Robot** is a poster of outstanding moral character and clear insight. > > The writer of “I’m Christian unless you’re gay” is the self-congratulatory, smarmy little prick. Oh, thanks for clearing that up for me. I wouldn’t want to go around misconstruing anything you posted, even if it looked funny that way. ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/50 "2012-04-05T21:58:39Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > If you think homosexuality is wrong, and that practicing sodomy or whatever is a sin, then that’s your belief. If you are a good person, you are going to tolerate gays, be polite to them, and love them as you are instructed as a Christian to love them. Bullshit. If you think homosexuality is wrong or that practicing sodomy is “a sin,” your beliefs are incorrect and you are a bad person. You should change your beliefs. The idea that one can be a homophobe and a “good person” is stretching the concept of “good person” so far that I suspect it could only come from a Christian or someone equally confused about morality. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/51 "2012-04-05T22:27:21Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > Bullshit. > > If you think homosexuality is wrong or that practicing sodomy is “a sin,” your beliefs are incorrect and you are a bad person. You should change your beliefs. Easier said than done. You can sneer about an “invisible man in the sky” but the Christian doesn’t have the option of being quite so dismissive. ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/52 "2012-04-05T22:37:50Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Easier said than done. You can sneer about an “invisible man in the sky” but the Christian doesn’t have the option of being quite so dismissive. He can stop pretending, stop giving himself medals for not hitting minorities over the heads with shovels, and grow up. It may be psychologically traumatic at first but it’s certainly an option. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/53 "2012-04-05T23:22:53Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Easier said than done. You can sneer about an “invisible man in the sky” but the Christian doesn’t have the option of being quite so dismissive. Of course he does. Christianity is blatantly stupid, as ridiculous as a 30 year old believing in Santa Claus; if he believes it’s because he _wants_ to believe. If he’s going to indulge in willful self delusion, then he’s responsible for the consequences. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/54 "2012-04-05T23:28:00Z")
Bahhh…I’d say some people are as hardwired to believe in something resembling the FSM as some are to play hide the salami in all the wrong places… ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/55 "2012-04-05T23:38:41Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Bahhh…I’d say some people are as hardwired to believe in something resembling the FSM as some are to play hide the salami in all the wrong places… Then they are mentally ill - and that _also_ means their opinions aren’t worthy of respect. Do you respect the opinion of the guy on the streetcorner shrieking that the aliens are coming to eat us? ---
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/56 "2012-04-05T23:40:35Z")
I think some people believe that there are 10 whatchamacallits, strongly worded suggestions, or something like that. It is my understanding that one of those, um, oh, yeah, commandments, has something to do with not having sex with anyone who is not your spouse. I guess that is where the objection to homosexuallity comes from. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/57 "2012-04-05T23:44:48Z")
> [@FE3O4ENAIL](#): > > I think some people believe that there are 10 whatchamacallits, strongly worded suggestions, or something like that. > > It is my understanding that one of those, um, oh, yeah, commandments, has something to do with not having sex with anyone who is not your spouse. > > I guess that is where the objection to homosexuallity comes from. Then they’d be big proponents of same sex marriage, not anti-homosexual. And “because this book written by Bronze Age primitives says so” isn’t a valid reason to do anything. ---
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/58 "2012-04-05T23:46:44Z")
Were you raped by a Christian or something? ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/59 "2012-04-05T23:47:27Z")
> [@FE3O4ENAIL](#): > > I think some people believe that there are 10 whatchamacallits, strongly worded suggestions, or something like that. > > It is my understanding that one of those, um, oh, yeah, commandments, has something to do with not having sex with anyone who is not your spouse. > > I guess that is where the objection to homosexuallity comes from. That’s another fucking retarded belief. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867/60 "2012-04-05T23:50:13Z")
> [@FE3O4ENAIL](#): > > Were you raped by a Christian or something? What, I can’t think something is stupid unless the person believing it personally comes up to me and physically attacks me? And a violent fanatic Christian would be more likely to shoot me than rape me anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-im-christian-unless-youre-gay-and-christian-tolerance/617867.md?page=4)